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June 2025 saw the financial markets navigate significant macroeconomic and geopolitical turbulence while still achieving notable milestones. Macroeconomic uncertainties was accentuated by a sudden Middle East crisis as hostilities escalated between Israel and Iran, threatening oil supply via the Strait of Hormuz. However, after 12 days of airstrikes that saw the United States also participating in the attack against Iran, Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire which momentarily lifted market sentiments.

Institutional uptake of stablecoins and tokenized real‑world assets (RWAs) has accelerated markedly: stablecoins now exceed $250 billion in market value, while RWA assets under management have risen from $15.7 billion to $23.91 billion year‑to‑date, propelled chiefly by tokenized private credit and Treasury products.

Today (June 17th, U.S. local time) marked a significant progress in U.S. history as the Senate passed the GENIUS Act, a bill which would establish a clear regulatory federal framework for dollar-backed cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins. Moving forward, the bill would progress to the House and President Donald Trump for approval before materializing into full effect.

May 2025 marked a period of notable resurgence for the cryptocurrency market. The overall market capitalization demonstrated a robust recovery, rebounding significantly from April lows to reach $3.25 trillion by May 31, 2025, reflecting a 10.2% MoM growth. Market sentiments improved slightly as the Fear and Greed index climbed from 51 to 55 in May. This upward trajectory was largely propelled by the impressive performance of major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, both of which saw substantial price appreciation driven by accelerating institutional adoption and favorable regulatory shifts. Donald Trump rolling back on his aggressive trade tariffs rhetoric against major trading partners like China and EU has also been a key catalyst driving May market rally.

The recent wave of memecoin launchpads have once again brought the term ‘Internet Capital Market’ to the spotlight, underscoring the vital roles these launchpads play in allowing projects/creators to secure funding through tokens to bring their projects from ideation to market.

April marked a turbulent month for the crypto industry as Trump unleashed his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs to kick off April, putting the markets in a state of heightened fear and uncertainty. Sentiment deteriorated thereafter as the fear and greed index plunged to a yearly low of 15 on 9 April when China unveiled retaliatory tariffs on US goods effective from 10 April, roiling financial markets and the crypto industry.

On January 20, Executive Order 14159 “Protecting the American People from Invasion” was signed; in February, specific humanitarian immigration programs were suspended; on March 21, the legal status of 530,000 Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders was revoked; in late March, enforcement of detentions and deportations was strengthened. Undocumented immigrants account for nearly 5% of the U.S. workforce, reaching 15–20% in specific industries. The harsh immigration crackdown may force undocumented immigrants to leave their jobs or make employers afraid to hire them, equivalent to a loss of nearly 1 million workers.

In March, macroeconomics developments continued to weigh heavily on the markets. Total crypto market capitalization decreased by 6.8% in March, following a steep 20.7% decline in February as markets continue to remain on tenterhooks amidst escalating trade tensions between US and its trading partners.

“Ethereum is dead”. This is a pervasive argument that has recently appeared in various communities and media. In fact, Vitalik himself used this sentence to analyze the various difficulties experienced by Ethereum at the previous Wanxiang Blockchain Conference. The audience understood that Vitalik was being self-deprecating — perhaps even playfully mocking the persistent FUD surrounding Ethereum. But what’s different this time is that many people are starting to believe that Ethereum may be past its prime.